Question: What is the importance of physical fitness?

Sri Chinmoy: With our soul’s aspiration and our inner dedication and surrender, we will be able to reach the Supreme Truth. After we realise the Supreme, we have to fulfil the Supreme by manifesting Him on earth. But in order to manifest the Supreme, the Highest, on earth, physical fitness is absolutely necessary. If we want to reveal and manifest Him, the body must be our divine instrument. If the physical is not fit, manifestation cannot take place at all, or it can take place only to a very limited extent. For that reason we have to pay some attention to sports and exercise. Otherwise, we shall be weak and sick all the time. That does not mean that we must be the world’s fastest runners or best athletes. But we must keep the body fit, according to the necessity of our inner development.

The body needs proper training so that it will be fit to receive the message of the soul. If the body is strong and healthy, it can receive the message of the soul unreservedly, and we can become a perfect receptacle, a perfect instrument. At that time the soul’s aspiration and the body’s aspiration go together.

So please exercise regularly. Your strong body will someday be necessary for the manifestation of the Supreme. The higher, the deeper you go, the more it will be necessary for you to reveal and manifest your inner divinity; and for that manifestation, physical fitness is of paramount importance.